Multiple stone alignment and associated cairns west of Glasscombe Upper Plantation

Reasons for Designation

Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in Southern Britain and because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provides direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains gives significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. Stone alignments provide rare evidence of ceremonial or ritual practices on the Moor during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. The complex of alignments near Glasscombe Upper Plantation is unusual and particularly significant as it is connected with a group of cairns and the remains of cairns (retaining kerbs) at the north-eastern end and with a further complex of stone settings and cairns on the far bank of the East Glaze Brook. There are also several other settlements and funerary monuments in the vicinity.

Details

Stone alignments or stone rows consist of upright stones set in a single line or in two or more parallel lines, up to several hundred metres in length. They frequently lead to burial monuments such as small cairns, cists and barrows and are therefore thought to have had a ceremonial function. The 70 or so examples known on Dartmoor were probably constructed in the Late Neolithic period (around 2500 BC) This complex of multiple stone alignments, cairns and remains of cairns lies on the west bank of the East Glaze Brook north-west of Glasscombe Upper Plantation. The stone rows follow the main contour and are aligned roughly north-east/south-west, with five cairns at the northern end. There are seven, or possibly eight rows, the possible eighth being represented by two stones 25m apart between the two triple rows and aligned with the centre of their terminal cairn. The northernmost row is single and is 157m in length, with stones standing up to 0.64m in height. The spacing between stones is very irregular, the terminal cairn at the north end is 8m in diameter and 0.5m in height. There are two shorter triple rows south of it, both terminating at the north-eastern end at a cairn retaining kerb, the first triple row is 7.8m in length and the southernmost is 66m in length and again the spacings are irregular. This and the variation in length may be due to robbing for the newtake. The cairn retaining kerb at the north end of the triple rows is a semi-circle 14m in diameter, with five stones up to 0.5m in height. Two sets of concentric rings of stones (retaining kerbs) at the northern end are 14m and 23m in diameter. The adjacent cairn is 8m in diameter and 0.5m in height.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

10569

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings in Dartmoor Barrows, Vol. 36, (1978), 171
Davidson, C J, Seabrook, R A G, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. in Stone Rings on South East Dartmoor, Vol. 31, (1973), 26
Robinson, R, Greeves, T A P, Proc Devon Arch Soc in Two unrecorded prehistoric multiple stone rings, Glasscombe, Vol. 39, (1981), 33-36

Other
Devon County SMR SX66SE-350,
Devon County SMR SX66SE-003,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry